Just me or Everyone?

On my podcast, “Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend”, I do a segment called “Just Me Or Everyone?” where people write in and tell me things they think or do that make them wonder if it’s just them.

The idea for the segment came when I was out walking one day in Brooklyn, where I lived at the time, and a fire truck tore down the street, engine blaring. “I wonder if it’s headed to my apartment,” I thought, imaging my house in flames because I’d left my straightening iron on. It was a familiar thought — the same one I had every time I was out walking and heard a fire engine’s siren. Then I wondered if I was the only one who had this thought. (I’m not, but it’s less common than I would have expected.)

I’ve been doing the segment for a few years now — on a live streaming Internet talk show I did from my living room in Brooklyn and now on my twice-weekly audio podcast, and as such, I have a pretty good sense of the idiosyncratic thoughts and habits we all share. I thought I’d reveal some recent submissions (people tweet them to me at @ariynbf, my show’s Twitter handle), along with my comments, lest you also do these things and think you’re the only one.

“The idea for the segment came when I was out walking one day in Brooklyn”

@abelopez “get super nervous and tongue tied when I call someone expecting a voicemail and they answer” Yes! Sadly I tend to prefer avoiding the phone altogether these days but when I’m reveling in the comfort of thinking I won’t have to connect with another human being and then suddenly I’m confronted with a live one, it’s scary. Side note: how sad that’s it come to this.

@LarryAugsberger: “Is it just me or does everyone stare at the rug when they’re on the toilet and cross their eyes a little until they see little faces in the pile” I stare at the floor tiles. Only some kind of maniac would have carpet in his or her bathroom — unless you’re referring to a bath rug. In that case, I get what you’re saying but I recommend the dimples in the tiles. Better for shapes. But still not as good as asbestos-filled cottage cheese ceilings.

@Mike Chamernik “if someone mispronounces my name and asks if that’s how you say it I say “You got it” I definitely don’t do this. Maybe I should?

@thomaschad “feel like a dish u hand scrub w tons of soap and hot water is not as clean as 1 that is just stuck in washer and prob gets a squirt of h2o” Yes! I thought this was only me, but I have a hang up about dishes that are hand washed. I’m convinced I can taste the soap. No amount of water is enough to rinse it off.

@higherbassist “when someone doesn’t respond to a text message in a timely manner I begin to worry about their well-being” Yes! Or I begin to worry they’re mad at me. And yet I take my sweet time responding to people. I’m a jerk.

@keenandion “I love the warm cozy feeling of a gas station on a dark stormy morning” I love dark stormy mornings but I would hardly describe gas stations as warm and cozy. In my experience they’re usually cold and smelly.

@thompsona2006 “Whenever I hear a 100 [percent] money back guarantee, I wonder if the company sends the returned item out to their next customer” Well, I never worried about this before … but now I will. So, thanks? !